The headline says it all! I’m hoping they don’t release an online version of Dreamweaver, before we get Synthasite out into Open Beta (SOON, I PROMISE!). We truly see Synthasite as a next generation Dreamweaver and we’re doing everything possible to release Version 2.0 to the market - but more on this later.
The one concern I have is that Adobe still doesn’t understand the market of Web Applications (in my opinion). I don’t believe that advertising supported web apps, especially productivity apps, are the way to go. I understand that Google does it with Gmail, but that’s slightly different in that Gmail can contextualize the ads to the content of the emails. I doubt that there is much contextualization that could occur within an online version of Photoshop.
One of my favourite blogs posts on the topic of Web 2.0 Business Models is by Ken Yarmosh, from Technosight. I’m going to summarise it, so basically, network effect business models are best suited to advertising as a means of reaching profitability/sustainability, whereas technology plays like Photoshop & Synthasite are best support by premium use and partnership models. It’s a great post, and I often refer back to it - so I advise that those in the Web 2.0 sphere particularly give it a read.
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